ICA delegation’s successful visit to Cersaie 2021
Bologna (Italy) – Cersaie, the world’s largest ceramic tile and bathroom furnishing exhibition, went ahead this year after being cancelled in 2020. The event took place from 27 September to 1 October and complied with all coronavirus requirements. Both Kees van den Hoek, owner and CEO of ICA, and Jelle de Vries, our new managing director, were in attendance and noticed that visitor numbers were substantially lower than in previous years.
This was confirmed by the official figures released earlier this week. The Cersaie exhibition was the industry’s first physical trade fair since the outbreak of the pandemic and was attended by around 62,000 professionals, including 24,000 international visitors. Total attendance stood at 56% compared to 2019, primarily due to intercontinental travel restrictions which prevented people from Asia and America from attending.
Nevertheless, the Cersaie organisation considers the 2021 edition a success and notes that 15 halls at the Bologna Exhibition Centre were fully occupied, the equivalent of 150,000 m2 of exhibition space. A total of 623 companies took part, including 361 from the ceramic tile sector, 87 involved in bathroom furnishings and 175 whose operations focus on activities related to raw materials, new surfaces, services and suchlike.
ICA’s visit was especially significant as new managing director Jelle de Vries was introduced to various factories. Owner Kees van den Hoek was not fazed by the decrease of almost 50% in visitor numbers and remarked, “It was definitely quieter compared to other years, but I’d still say it was a very enjoyable fair. A number of factories certainly surprised us, in a positive sense. Besides, we had not attended the fair in Italy for two years and you can always get a lot more done in person than by e-mail or telephone.”
Apart from Jelle de Vries, concept and product line manager Gert Jan Markus, sales manager Bram Boer and marketing manager Rex Broekman also attended the exhibition. Earlier findings by Gert Jan, which note that there is currently a strong preference for warmer, softer colours such as bisque and beige shades, were confirmed during the event. That large tile sizes have now been scaled up to 80×80 cm, 90×90 cm, 100×100 cm, 120×120 cm and even 120×240 cm also confirms these findings. In addition, it was clear that many (mostly Spanish) manufacturers are suffering from the current high natural gas prices affecting the world.
The 39th edition of Cersaie will take place from 26 to 30 September 2022.
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